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Sylvan Elf' is a catch-all phrase for a majority of the Elven people consisting of Wood-Elves, Gray-Elves, Wild-Elves and many other breeds which are separated by cultural and ethnic lines from 'High Elves' (Moon Elves, Sun Elves) and the Avariel -- it should be noted in advance that 'Low Elves' is seen as an incredibly derogatory and rude term that will offend virtually any Elf -- especially if spoken by a non-Sylvan Elf.
Elves stand at average from 5'4" – 6'0" (1.63 – 1.83 meters) and weigh in from 130 – 170 pounds (59 – 77 kg). Usually, true elves are a naturally slender and athletic race. They have a similar range of complexions to humans, with wood Elves typically coppery or pale skinned and wild elves having darker pigmentation. Often, Elven hair is dark, either brown or black, with copper red or blond hair also found among wood Elves. Elven eyes are commonly brown, hazel, or an emerald green, most often flecked with gold or silver that marks them as descendants of the Feywild. Like their cousins the High Elves, Sylvan Elves are fair and beautiful, handsome, and have pointed ears and no body hair except eyebrows, eyelashes and hair.
Though High Elves can live for a thousand years or longer, Sylvan Elves most often do not surpass six-hundred years of age.
Elves in Orben
Elves are the oldest civilized race in Orben, and created one of the most powerful empires its face has ever seen. However, much of that esteemed history is owed to the so-called High Elves and Avariel—Sylvan Elves barely hovered above Human slaves as commoners, and could themselves be enslaved by other Elves. Though during some periods of the empire they might hold high positions as generals and even elected officials, most were called Tovonhos, the Lowly People, and never even tasted so much as a scrap of wealth or power. Having the least influence in Elven society, they tended to suffer the most among Elves, forced into the worst and most violent occupations in order to survive. When the empire finally fell, the Sylvan Elves were often used unwittingly as screens and rearguard for the High-Elves who fled with their lives, and were on the receiving end of most Human cruelty. To be certain, the Sylvan Elves could be as cruel to Humans as any other during their height, but they were most often repaid in kind while a majority of High-Elves and Avariel were spared. After that comeuppance, much of the Elven population was reduced by war and then diaspora until the present day.
Elf Society and Culture
Elves now are scattered into various refuges, mostly in Aer Arnad, Beleri, and Myultaoh, away from the expanding net of Human conquest, though most take for granted that its reach will eventually scratch them. Many have attempted to return to the Feywilds in the deep forests, abandoning the trappings of civilization which they so proudly foisted upon other peoples, but most Fey reject them, and rarely accept Elves without suspicion or violence.
Elves never developed the strict patriarchal traditions of human warlords, and great female Elves nearly as often rose to be emperors and generals as male elves. The shock of adapting to Human culture has inflamed great feelings of shame and tarnished pride, not to mention resentment, wherever Elves are not driven out or slaughtered entirely.
Elves foster great nostalgia for the height of their empire, but most have accepted that its time has passed and that they are a people in its twilight. The art, music, and poetry which once glorified their race in times past is often now melancholic and sad, though sometimes offers glimmers of hope.
All Elves used to worship Corellon Larethian at their height, he being the patron god of Elves, but many have since rejected him, blaming their losses on his abandonment, and have moved to worshiping the nature gods in hopes of earning favor among the Fey, or else even more Human-aligned gods of hope and tolerance for unfairly-hated races, like Lathander and Selune.
Elves in Mhirdrun
Elves are scarce in Mhirdrun, after its founder Algis of the Mhird drove them into Esgal Eryn and slaughtered them wholesale. Nearly every malicious rumor or stigma ever attached to Elves is considered a matter of fact in Mhirdrun, and the race are barred from ever holding any position of authority, if their existence is even permitted. If they are permitted, it is rarely as anything but a slave.